Page 47 of Bitten Shifter

When he slides the drawer open, black, acrid smoke billows out.

“What on earth?” Merrick mutters, removing a smoking laptop. “It’s switched off. How?—?”

The device must be searingly hot; he juggles it from hand to hand, eyes flicking between confusion and annoyance.

Without hesitation, he stands, walks past me, and yanks open the office door. His voice booms down the corridor.

“Hannah! Can you bring me a new laptop, please?”

The rapid clicks of heels approach, followed by a quiet, hesitant reply. Merrick hands over the smouldering device without another word and shuts the door behind him.

The smell of burnt electronics lingers in the air, sharp and bitter.

I look away, biting my lip to stop myself grinning. My gaze drops to the floor, feigning innocence. I shouldn’t have done it, but at least now I know my technomancy is still working.

Merrick sinks into his chair, dragging a hand over his face with a groan. “There’s something else I need to tell you. I’ve arranged… I may have miscalculated.”

That sounds ominous.

My smugness disappears. I keep my weight pressed against the shelves, the sharp edge digging into my back, bracing me against the panic rising in my chest. Merrick’s usually stoic face is showing cracks.

What has he done?

“Merrick, what have you arranged?”

“You have an appointment today,” he continues, voice low and steady. “Your solicitor will be here in half an hour, followed shortly after by your husband.”

My knees buckle, and for a second, I think I might crumple to the floor. My fingers clamp around the shelf until my knuckles pale.

I have a creature clawing inside me, desperate to escape, and Merrick thinks adding Paul to this chaos is a good idea?

I’m hanging by a thread. Now this?

No.

“I can’t. No. I can’t.” The words tumble out in a hoarse whisper before I repeat them, louder. “I can’t, Merrick. I can’t see him. Please, please don’t make me see him. I will go to the Facility, learn how to be a shifter—then maybe, once I’m in control of myself—maybe then I can see him. But not now.Please. Not now.” My voice breaks, betraying me. “Don’t let him come here. Send him away. I don’t want to see him.”

Merrick’s jaw tightens, though his expression remains resolute. “The paperwork’s already done, and he is already in the Enterprise Zone. He’s on his way. I’m sorry, Lark. There’s nothing I can do.”

Bullshit. This is Merrick’s fault. “You interfered. You caused this to—to —what, to hurt me? To see me suffer?”

He flinches, guilt flashing in his blue eyes. “I don’t want you suffering,” he says quietly. “I don’t want to see you hurt. But this is something you have to face.”

“I know!” I snap, raking my hands over my face as if I could wipe away the despair. “Who are you to decide when? Look at me! I’m not the Lark he knew. My face, my hair—God, look at this mess. My clothes don’t fit. I had a plan. I wanted to at least look… presentable before facing him. Not like some lunatic…”

I falter, glancing at Merrick in helpless frustration. “He will freak out. He is going to freak the eff out. He’s anti-shifter. He hates shifters—he is an active member of Human First. The moment he sees me, he will lose it.”

Or maybe, in the best-case scenario, Paul won’t be able to look at me at all. Maybe he will sign the divorce papers without any more drama.

Merrick stands abruptly and strides to the door. He swings it open and shouts down the corridor. “Hannah! Bring me some scissors.”

He shuts the door again and turns back to me, his gaze gentler. “We can at least fix your hair,” he says softly. “Everything will be all right.”

All right for him, maybe.

“Why did you do this?” My voice trembles. “If it’s not out of cruelty or revenge, there must be?—”

“Because it’s something you have to deal with,” Merrick interjects, firm but almost pleading. “And now it’s more critical than ever, because it’s not just about closure or dissolving your marriage. You are a shifter, and the change still isn’t certain. You need to enter it with as few doubts as possible—no regrets, no ghosts in your past. If you don’t, it could kill you. Do you understand? The transition still isn’t guaranteed, Lark.”

---